More Thoughts on the Ego and Disengaging From It

      I was thinking about the concept of "God-sized hole" in people as is popularly taught, or used to be popularly taught, by many churches. My thought was that, in a way, this concept isn't that far off the mark. The human ego or self-identity, what one author calls the EMI (Ego/Mind/Identity), and can be likened to how Paul describes "The flesh" and "the Old Man," is formed from the malfunctioning human brain's fear response, and its need to cling to whatever pleases it and push away whatever displeases it. It clings to various things in order to form a personal identity to define itself, even though it in itself is an illusion or delusion created by the brain. My thought is that it is created by the brain out of the panic of the soul or immaterial part of the human being being unable to sense or connect with its Source, that is, God, from which it is ultimately derived and has its being. Perhaps there is something in the malfunction, something about the way the enlargement of the amygdala or maybe the miswiring of the hypothalamus affects the reception by the brain of the soul or immaterial, causing the brain to go into a panic from the beginning and cling to anything it can in order to form a "pseudo-identity" to define itself rather than defining itself by its Source. 

     How do you disengage from this ego, your own responses, and engage with the Spirit of Christ? First, you ask Him with intention. Then you let Him do it, and don't take back control. The steps are easy enough to understand, but the execution of the latter takes time and practice. We disengage from the Spirit of Christ and engage with our own responses when we submit to our own fear, aggression, and bodily cravings. Fear itself is the chief thing above all others which tears back the control we've ceded. We don't always understand our personal motivations in the subconscious realm. Many different things that we're not consciously aware of can trigger a fear response, and if we aren't careful, this can cause us to engage our own responses once again. This is where understanding our own minds can be useful, as well as working through past emotional and psychological trauma in our lives. If we simply begin by asking "why am I doing this thing?" And continue to ask this question of one answer after another, we can get down to the root trigger and become aware of it so that we may learn to let this thing go as well. Letting go of those things which trigger our fear, aggression, and bodily craving responses is a necessity for the disciple of Jesus Christ because of the obstructions these place in the practice of the Way, causing us to be tripped up. Remember, He will not force you to do anything. Following the Way is strictly voluntary.

     Random thoughts can be triggers to take back control from the Spirit of Christ. The thoughts themselves are amoral, neither good nor bad, but it is when we engage with them with a fear, aggression, or bodily craving response that we run into trouble. This is where the discipline of contemplative prayer and meditation can be useful for the practicing disciple of Jesus Christ in learning how to be aware of one's thoughts, but not engage with them. Again, the goal is to not be triggered into taking back control from the Spirit of Christ.